Why should my organization prepare a QAARWP?
The activities and vulnerabilities of an organization's quality
system should be reviewed annually. The QAARWP documents this review and
identifies the proposed activities for the coming year.
It provides a vehicle for the organization's management to determine the
implementation status of their Quality System.

Why must I submit a QAARWP to EPA Headquarters?
EPA Order CIO
2106.0 requires that organizations covered by the
EPA Quality System submit a QAARWP to the Quality Staff, Office of
Environmental Information. The QAARWPs are required so that the Quality
Staff can assess the status of the implementation of the Agency-wide
Quality System for the EPA Administrator. QAARWPs from approximately
45 organizations are summarized across EPA. This summary, along with
other information collected during the year, is then used to identify
trends and gaps in the Agency-wide Quality System and plan Agency-level
activities. This information is then reported to the EPA Administrator
so that she can determine the implementation status of the Agency-wide
Quality System.

Does the Quality Staff compare the resources for
my organization to other organizations? No, EPA organizations
all make different environmental decisions based on different sources
of environmental information with different resources. The graded approach
is used by management to determine the appropriate level of quality assurance
within budget constraints. However, where types of environmental decisions
are similar within EPA, large differences in resources and/or activities
reported can signal the need for more information about how a program
is operating its quality system.

When are the QAARWPs due? QAARWP submissions
are timed to coincide with the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity
Act reporting, usually in December. The Assistant Administrator for
the Office of Environmental Information will issue a "Call Memo" to each
Assistant Administrator and Regional Administrator with the exact due
date, at least one month before it is due. Everyone in EPA's QA community
receives a copy of the memorandum.

Can my QAARWP contain information not required
by EPA CIO
2105-P-01-0? Yes. The QAARWPs are used to examine Agency-wide
trends but can also be used to brief an organization's management on their
quality system. Any information that is useful to an organization's management
or quality personnel can (and should) be included. For example, some EPA
organizations may include a status table of State QMPs in their QAARWP;
others may wish to including a summary of data assessments by number of
samples instead of events, etc.

Can I submit QAARWPs from sub-organizations
and not summarize them for the primary organization? No.
The purpose of the QAARWP is to review the status of implementation
of the organization's quality system. This means that information
for supporting QAARWPs needs to be integrated and analyzed so that
an assessment can be performed for the entire organization (not
for each sub-organization) where trends and issues organization-wide
are identified. Attaching individual QAARWPs without developing
a QAARWP for the overall organization does not meet the requirement
for an annual assessment required in Section 6.a.4 of CIO
2105.0(PDF
12pp, 94KAbout
PDF).

What are the most frequent problems with QAARWPs?
Information is
sometimes omitted and reported in inconsistent ways. Also, the compilation of information from many
sources sometimes leads to loss of explanation. In addition, signature pages are often
missing - the signature documents the review and approval of the organization's
senior manager.

Who must sign my organization's QAARWP? The
senior manager responsible for your organization's quality system must
sign the QAARWP. This means that the Assistant Administrator or Regional
Administrator must sign a National Program Office or Regional QAARWP.
If an individual office submits a QAARWP, that organization's senior manager
must sign it.

Why does the QAARWP ask about activities instead
of processes? Processes and policies are defined in an organization's
Quality Management Plan. The QAARWP is used to assess implementation of
these processes and what activities are being performed within an organization
and then across the Agency. Each individual organization should use their
QAARWP to ensure that the number and type of activities being performed
are appropriate for an organization and to identify any gaps in implementation.

What are quality management activities as opposed
to technical activities? Management activities are system-wide
activities needed to implement an organization's quality system, i.e.,
the activities that relate to the system as a whole. Examples include
developing a Quality Management Plan, providing training about the quality
system and its activities and performing assessments on a quality system.
Technical activities are project-specific activities needed to successfully
implement an individual project. Examples include reviewing Quality Assurance
Project Plans and Quality Management Plans for delegated programs. So,
developing a process to review and approve QA Project Plans is a management
activity; implementing this process for an individual project is a technical
activity. Developing a training program and providing this training are
management activities; project planning and oversight are technical activities.
An organization's quality personnel usually perform both management and
technical activities, depending on the program.

What does "assessments of a Quality System" include?
The phrase "assessments of a Quality System" refers to any type of assessment
performed on the overall Quality System, not an individual project(s).
The 'name' of the assessment (such as management systems review, quality
system audit, etc.) does not matter.